Find your sea story in a Mystic Seaport Museum SeaClass this fall. Learn new skills in authentic historic spaces with master craftspeople and teachers as your guides. Learn to sail in an evening sailing class for adults. Explore 19th-century open hearth cooking, or make your own unique cards on an original 19th-century printing press. Try your hand at blacksmithing or woodcarving. Learn how to sharpen your workshop tools, or make original holiday gifts in our unique sail-making skills classes. A huge variety of on-campus evening and Saturday classes are available for every skill level. Satisfy your curiosity at Mystic Seaport Museum!
Mystic Seaport Museum SeaClass teachers include licensed sailing instructors and skilled historic interpreters who will guide you through making your own projects using 19th-century tools and techniques. Please note some classes require a prerequisite, and some are multiple sessions.
Bookmark this page to be the first to learn about new classes each season. New digital options coming soon!
If you have any questions about our classes and workshops, or would like to book a private class, please call our Reservations Department at 860-572-5331, or email reservations@mysticseaport.org.
Thursdays, September 12–October 24, 5:30–7:30 p.m.
For adults who have never sailed! Learn in a friendly environment on the beautiful Mystic Seaport Museum waterfront. We will introduce you to the theory of sailing (why and how a boat sails), basic sailing and gear terminology, rigging and de-rigging a sailboat, equipment stowage and care, personal safety, knots, safety on the dock and on the water, points of sail, small boat handling, and basic rules of the “road.”
Saturdays, October 19–November 23, 1:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.
Keep your sailing skills sharp in the offseason with our Frostbite Racing Series. Late fall is a prime time to sail with lots of wind! Sailors will race in Dyer Dhows, starting at 1:00 p.m. each Saturday and wrap up at 3:00 p.m.
Bookmarks (CLOSED)
In Letterpress Paper Crafts: Bookmarks, make your own paper crafts on an authentic 19th-century letterpress. An experienced printer will guide you as you design and set your own bookmarks using 19th-century techniques and equipment. All tools and materials are provided.
Coasters
In Letterpress Paper Crafts: Coasters, make your own paper crafts on an authentic 19th-century letterpress. An experienced printer will guide you as you design and set your own coasters using 19th-century techniques and equipment. All tools and materials are provided.
Holiday Cards
In Letterpress Paper Crafts: Holiday Cards, make paper crafts on an authentic 19th-century letterpress. An experienced printer will guide you as you design and set your own holiday cards using 19th-century techniques and equipment. All tools and materials are provided.
Open hearth cooking classes are perfect for foodies on their own, or in small groups.
Introduction to Open Hearth Cooking
In Introduction to Hearth Cooking, learn the art of open-hearth cooking in the 1768 Buckingham-Hall House at Mystic Seaport Museum. Learn how to build and control your fire, adjust for the proper heat, and determine what supplies you may need to cook at home. Knowledgeable cooks will guide you as you roast, bake, stir, and sizzle using historic techniques and recipes to prepare a complete meal. This class is designed for beginners, but cooks with any level of experience are welcome. All materials are provided; just bring your enthusiasm and appetite!
Vegetarian Hearth Cooking
In Vegetarian Hearth Cooking, cook a 19th-century vegetarian meal in the Buckingham-Hall House at Mystic Seaport Museum. We’ll use historic meat-free recipes to create a complete meal using open hearth cooking techniques. Cooks with any level of experience are welcome. All materials are provided; just bring your enthusiasm and appetite!
Harvest Celebration (SOLD OUT)
In Harvest Celebration Cooking, make a 19th-century fall harvest meal in the Buckingham-Hall House at Mystic Seaport Museum. We will use historic recipes to make local seasonal dishes to celebrate harvest time! Cooks with any level of experience are welcome. All materials are provided; just bring your enthusiasm and appetite!
Holiday Bakes (SOLD OUT)
In the Holiday Bakes class, bake four classic holiday treats in the historic Buckingham-Hall House at Mystic Seaport Museum. Mix up some fun while you enjoy the warmth of the hearth and the fruits of your labor. From cookies to cake, you will learn about traditional New England cooking methods and flavors. Beginning cooks to experts are welcome. All materials are provided; just bring your enthusiasm and appetite!
Introduction to Blacksmithing (CLOSED)
In Introduction to Blacksmithing, get behind the scenes in our authentic 19th-century shipsmith and try your hand at a new skill! One of our lead blacksmiths will cover safety and basics of the trade to guide you through making your own hook. Please come dressed in natural materials that cover your arms and legs, like denim pants and a cotton work shirt, and sturdy closed-toe shoes. Eye protection will be provided, but you are also welcome to bring your own.
Beginner Blacksmithing (CLOSED)
In Beginner Blacksmithing, refine your techniques and process working in the forge and anvil guided by a lead Museum blacksmith.
Intermediate Blacksmithing (CLOSED)
In Intermediate Blacksmithing, pick your own project to make in the forge with the guidance of one of our lead blacksmiths.
Introduction to Wood Carving
In Introduction to Wood Carving, learn maximum tool control and creative process from an experienced wood carver in the Museum’s Shipcarver’s Shop.
High Relief Wood Carving
In Wood Carving: High Relief, enhance your skills by making a high relief carving with guidance from an experienced wood carver in the Museum’s Shipcarver’s Shop. You may take the carving home with you. All tools and materials are provided.
Incise Letter Carving
In Wood Carving: Incise Letter Carving, explore a new technique of wood carving with guidance from an experienced wood carver in the Museum’s Shipcarver’s Shop. All tools and materials are provided.
Carve Tool Sharpening
In Wood Carving: Carve Tool Sharpening, learn the proper way to sharpen your tools, a necessary skill that will serve you for your lifetime of carving. All tools and materials are provided.
Gold Leaf Gilding
Get fancy in Wood Carving: Gold Leaf Gilding at Mystic Seaport Museum! Learn how to apply gold leaf gilding to a wood project. No prerequisite. All tools and materials are provided.
Sailmaking: Stitching Canvas
Add more skills to your repertoire with this multi-week project! In Sailmaking: Stitching Canvas, learn to hand stitch with skilled staff in the historic Charles Mallory Sail Loft. Hand stitch your own ditty bag, a special kind of bag used by sailors. Using 19th-century techniques and tools such as palms, fids, awls, and marlinspikes you will craft a bag based on historic examples of canvas work. You will also learn about the history of sailmaking here in Mystic. Be prepared to do some work on your project between sessions to be ready to learn the next step of the project. All tools and materials will be provided.
Sailmaking: Basics of Dacron
In Sailmaking: Basics of Dacron, learn how to sew the modern sailmaking material, Dacron, on a Sailrite sewing machine in in the historic Charles Mallory Sail Loft. You will learn basic sailmaking techniques to make your own lunch bag out of Dacron material to take home or give as a gift. No previous sewing experience is required, but people of all experience are welcome! All tools and materials will be provided.
Open hearth cooking classes are perfect for foodies on their own, or in small groups.
EATING FROM THE SEA
If you love seafood, this is the class for you! Learn to cook locally and sustainably harvested fish and shellfish in the historic open-hearth kitchen of the Buckingham-Hall house. Explore how Mystic and New England were shaped by fisheries and the international trade they are connected to. Wrap up the evening by sitting down to a delicious dinner in the dining room of the Buckingham-Hall house!
WINTER DINNER
In 19th-century New England, winter was a time when people enjoyed the fruits of their harvest, and entertained friends and family. Gather your friends and family and together make seasonal dishes over our open hearth. Then sit down to a cozy meal in 1830s parlor of the Buckingham-Hall house!
VALENTINE’S DAY TEA
Celebrate Valentine’s Day at the Buckingham-Hall house! We will bake festive treats on the open hearth and then sit down together to enjoy a homemade afternoon snack in the parlor of this historic home!
FOOD AND IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE: IRELAND
From familiar recipes to imported ingredients, food has always been intertwined with the immigrant experience. In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, come join us at the open hearth in the Buckingham-Hall house to learn more about the culinary traditions of Irish-American immigrants in the 1800s. You’ll get a heaping helping of history, traditional cooking techniques, and of course, delicious food!
FISH FRY
Explore the life of a fisherman through a cultural, historic, and culinary tour. Join our staff and learn about the New England cod fishery. Then, make your way to the Buckingham-Hall house where you will prepare codfish cakes over the open hearth. Our experienced staff will guide you through the cooking process. Enjoy your fishcakes hot out of the pan, or take a couple home.
COOPERING FOR BEGINNERS
Join our master cooper in this three-day class to learn the techniques, terminology, and processes necessary to fashion round containers made of wood. You will plan your design, understand the different types of woods used by coopers, and identify the direction of the grain to give you the best results. Next, you will work with traditional tools, such as draw knives, a croze, a cooper’s anvil, and a jointer to shape staves which are the basic pieces of every cask, barrel, and pail. The results of your hard work will be a bucket of the sort that was used on the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan and in homes throughout the world for centuries.
75 Greenmanville Ave
Mystic, CT 06355
860-572-0711
info@mysticseaport.org
Copyright © 2021 Mystic Seaport Museum
75 Greenmanville Ave
Mystic, CT 06355
860-572-0711
